Animals, Criminal law, Torts

Roughing the Protester? Activist Tackled by Rams Players Files Police Report and Threatens Lawsuit
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The 24-9 blowout of the Rams by the 49ers captured a number of missed tackles and plays by the Rams. However, one successful tackle occurred on the sideline when a protester wearing a shirt reading “righttorescue.com” and carrying a smoke flare jumped a security fence and ran down the field. Linebacker Bobby Wagner (with the help of fellow linebacker Takkarist McKinley) forced the protester to the ground. Now, the activist with Direct Action Everywhere has filed a police report and is threatening legal action. However, not only is another court likely to find that there was no right to rescue in a case involving the theft of pigs by animal activists, this activist is likely to establish that the players had a right to tackle.

Continue reading “Roughing the Protester? Activist Tackled by Rams Players Files Police Report and Threatens Lawsuit” →

Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Media, Politics

“Be Afraid, Be Actually Afraid”: Reporters Panic at the Thought of Twitter Restoring Free Speech Protections

Twitter Logo“Be afraid, be actually afraid.” Those words from former Politico Magazine editor Garrett M. Graff captures the hyperventilation in the media this week. No it is not Vladimir Putin’s threat of unleashing a nuclear war or the word that our national debt has reached a staggering $31 trillion. No, it is the news that Elon Musk may go forward with the purchase of Twitter and . . . [trigger warning] . . . free speech protections might be restored on the platform. The pearl-clutching of various media and academic figures shows how engrained the censorship culture has become in the United States. Continue reading ““Be Afraid, Be Actually Afraid”: Reporters Panic at the Thought of Twitter Restoring Free Speech Protections” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics

“Jim Eagle” Has Landed: A Federal Court Rejects Challenge to Georgia Election Law

Below is my expanded column in Fox.com on the recent decision finding the Georgia election law constitutional. That was the law widely denounced by President Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders as unconstitutional as a “new Jim Crow” law. The media repeated the claim despite some of us noting that the law fit well within existing precedent and even shared conditions with blue states like Delaware. Now that the challenge to election law changes denounced as voter suppression have been entirely rejected, there is little more than a shrug from some of the same figures and outlets.

Here is the column: Continue reading ““Jim Eagle” Has Landed: A Federal Court Rejects Challenge to Georgia Election Law” →

Media, Society, Torts

Trump Sues CNN for $475 Million in Defamation Lawsuit

Former President Donald Trump is suing CNN in a $475 million defamation lawsuit, according to a complaint filed in federal court in the Southern District of Florida on Monday. The lawsuit faces significant challenges under the governing precedent for public figures. For counsel, those challenges likely seem steeper in a week when Trump unleashed reckless and offensive attacks on Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and his wife former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao as well as journalist, Maggie Haberman. It is not exactly the context that counsel would want when seeking to hold CNN liable for defamatory comments in a difficult legal action. Continue reading “Trump Sues CNN for $475 Million in Defamation Lawsuit” →

Academia, Free Speech

Black Playwright Canceled at Texas Wesleyan University Due to Use of N-Word by Character

We have been following cases involving faculty disciplined or fired over the use of the n-word in classes (including courses on racism) or tests.  Recently, a GW professor was removed from his class for such a reference. Now, “Down in Mississippi,” a play written by African American writer Carlyle Brown on the birth of the civil rights movement, has been reportedly canceled. Students objected to the use of the n-word in a play that tries to capture the environment of hate and racism of the period. Texas Wesleyan’s Black Student Association declared the reference to be harmful and “triggering.”

Continue reading “Black Playwright Canceled at Texas Wesleyan University Due to Use of N-Word by Character” →

Columns, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics

From Affirmative Action to Andy Warhol: Buckle up for a Wild Supreme Court Term

Below is my column in The Hill on the start of the new Term for the Supreme Court. The column predicts that critics will likely respond to the expected new precedent by attacking the integrity rather than the interpretations of the justices.  I was wrong. The New York Times did not wait for any new decisions and attacked the integrity of the conservative justices as the “judicial arm of the Republican Party.” Does that make the three liberals justices voting together on the Court the “judicial arm of the Democratic Party”?  Of course not. Justices are only partisan to the degree that you disagree with their jurisprudential views.

Here is the column: Continue reading “From Affirmative Action to Andy Warhol: Buckle up for a Wild Supreme Court Term” →

Academia, Free Speech

Will the Call for a Judicial Boycott Change Yale? Don’t Bet on it

Judge James C. Ho of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently made headlines when he publicly declared that he would no longer consider graduates of Yale Law School for clerkship positions due to the erosion of free speech rights at the university. In my view, Judge Ho is right on the merits but wrong on the means. I do not believe that these students should be the subject of a boycott for the failure of the faculty. However, the real question is whether such a boycott would even work. The answer is no. Even if the boycott were successful in dramatically reducing the prestigious clerkship for the school, it would likely not produce a change of behavior by the faculty. The sad reality is that many professors long ago jettisoned the interests of their students and their institution in favor of pursuing their own agendas.

Continue reading “Will the Call for a Judicial Boycott Change Yale? Don’t Bet on it” →

Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech, Politics, Religion

Berkeley Student Groups Vote to Ban Any Speakers Who Support Israel or Zionism

There is an interesting free speech fight brewing at the University of California Berkeley Law School after nine student groups banned any speakers that support Israel or Zionism. The resolution adopted by the groups bar anyone who supports “Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine.” Berkeley Law’s Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, a self-proclaimed Zionist, has observed that he himself would be banned from speaking to the groups under this resolution.

Continue reading “Berkeley Student Groups Vote to Ban Any Speakers Who Support Israel or Zionism” →

Free Speech, Media, Politics

YouTube Demonetizes Taibbi Video Showing Democrats Claiming Prior Elections Were Stolen

In the latest attack on free speech, YouTube had demonetized a video disseminated by former Rolling Stone and current Substack journalist Matt Taibbi. YouTube has previously shown open political bias in its censorship and demonetization policies. However, this is remarkably blatant in demonetizing a video that showed how Democrats previously claimed elections of Republicans were stolen — contradicting the narrative maintained in the media and on social media. Continue reading “YouTube Demonetizes Taibbi Video Showing Democrats Claiming Prior Elections Were Stolen” →

Free Speech, Media, Politics

“That’s Just Wild”: CNN and other Media Eagerly Report that Ginni Thomas Remains Unrepentant on the 2020 Election

We have previously discussed the calls of figures like Rep. Adam Schiff and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse to investigate Ginni Thomas, the wife of Associate Justice Clarence Thomas. I have expressed great concern over the calling of a spouse of a sitting justice who is among millions of Americans who believed that the 2020 election was stolen. I am not among them, but Thomas has every right to that belief and to advocate for actions in light of that belief. Yet, the Jan. 6 House Select Committee thrilled many on the left by demanding that she appear and answer for her advocacy. Continue reading ““That’s Just Wild”: CNN and other Media Eagerly Report that Ginni Thomas Remains Unrepentant on the 2020 Election” →

Columns, Congress, Constitutional Law, Politics

New Book Reveals Democratic Decision to Abandon Due Process and Historical Precedent to Impeach Trump

Below is today’s column in Fox.com on the new disclosures in a new book on the Trump impeachment. The authors allege that House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., and his staff raised virtually the same procedural objections that I made in my testimony about the House abandoning both historical precedent and due process guarantees. The book directly contradicts public statements made by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff.

Here is the column:

Academia, Constitutional Law, Free Speech

UNC Holds First Amendment “Celebration” With One-Sided Condemnations of Free Speech Values
A professor at the University of North Carolina recently sent me an article on a “free speech event” held at the UNC Center for Media Law and Policy as part of the University’s 13th First Amendment Day celebration. What was striking about the free speech panel was not just that it was decidedly opposed to core free speech principles but it lacked a single panelist who spoke primarily in favor of free speech and against censorship. The panel, “Weaponizing First Amendment Rhetoric,” was clearly designed to offer the opposing view to traditional free speech and First Amendment values, but the lack of a dissenting voices allowed these views to go unchallenged. The panel could have served a more valuable purpose if they had allowed a single panelist to voice opposing views. Continue reading “UNC Holds First Amendment “Celebration” With One-Sided Condemnations of Free Speech Values” →
Academia, Constitutional Law, Courts, Free Speech

University of Idaho Warns Professors About Discussing Abortion

There has been much talk in the last week about a letter from the University of Idaho General Counsel’s Office warning professors about discussing abortion. The warning is outgrowth of the No Public Funds for Abortion Act (Idaho Code Section 18-8701 through Section 18-8711). However, in my view, the media’s interpretation of the letter has exceeded any reasonable construction of the law. The law does not prevent professors from discussing abortion or supporting the right in their classes. Such a bar would be a serious denial of free speech and academic freedom principles. If that were the intention of sponsors, it should be denounced by people on both sides of this abortion debate. However, I do not see the evidence (as claimed by some) that this is a bar on professors either discussing abortion or expressing their support for the right. Continue reading “University of Idaho Warns Professors About Discussing Abortion” →

Academia, Free Speech

“I Refuse to do this”: Leading NYU Psychologist Resigns from Research Group Over Mandatory DEI Statement

NYU professor and leading social psychologist Jonathan Haidt has resigned from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology due to the new requirement that members must include Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and anti-racism commitments if they want to present research at any conference.  It is the latest mandatory statement as a threshold requirement for academics and Haidt has refused in what could be a major confrontation to this field. Continue reading ““I Refuse to do this”: Leading NYU Psychologist Resigns from Research Group Over Mandatory DEI Statement” →

Res ipsa loquitur – The thing itself speaks